Displaying items by tag: Biomass

Canada: St Mary’s Cement plans to apply for a licence to substitute alternative fuel (AF) for a part of its coal, gas and petcoke fuel mix. The plant previously held a two-week AF substitution trial in May 2011. CBC News has reported that the subsidiary of Votorantim Cimentos will present its plan at an evening meeting for the general public on 18 November 2021. The company says that it plans to implement similar AF arrangements to those at its Bowmanville plant, where it uses 90,000t/yr of biomass, wood from construction and demolition and non-recyclable paper and plastics.

Environmental manager Ruben Plaza said "Lower CO2 emissions is the first consideration and, equally as important, the material has to be approved and available in sufficient quantities with a reliable and sustainable long-term supply."

India: Dalmia Cement has sought to acquire 2Mha of land from the government for use in bamboo production. The company plans to use the bamboo to produce bio-based alternative fuel (AF) for its cement production. BusinessLine News has reported that the company plans to obtain brownfield sites in order to restore them to grow the crop on.

Norway: Norcem plans to invest up to Euro8m on upgrades at its integrated Kjøpsvik cement plant to improve its receiving, handling and feeding of alternative fuels. The project will be implemented by 2023. The work will include installing new storage and dosing systems for waste oil, FAB pellets and bone meal.

India: JK Cement has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Punjab Renewable Energy Systems (PRESPL). Under the agreement, PRESPL will supply its technologies and forward-integrated value chain for use by JK Cement in scaling up alternative fuel (AF) substitution at its cement plants. The transition will focus on biomass-based fuel use.

Managing director Raghavpat Singhania said "As we embark on our journey towards decarbonisation, we commit to this MoU that allows us and PRESPL to build deeper synergies in the bio-energy sector.” He added that the agreement promised ‘a better future with a win-win for the environment, people and energy in India.’

Russia: Holcim Russia has committed to realising a 15% CO2 emissions reduction in its cement production between 2019 and 2030 to 475kg/t from 561kg/t. It plans to further reduce its cement’s CO2 emissions to 453kg/t by 2050, and to implement further measures to ensure its net carbon neutrality at that time.

Corporate relations director Vitaly Bogachenko said “The company's goal is to drastically reduce carbon emissions, and there are two working solutions for this. The first is the use of alternative fuels (AF) obtained from different types of waste: residues of municipal solid waste after sorting and extraction of all useful fractions from them, used tyres and others. The presence of biomass in them makes such fuels carbon neutral, so emissions during production are significantly reduced. The second solution is to replace carbon-intensive raw materials. For example, instead of limestone, we use slags. The 'recipe' for cement is completely different: thanks to the new composition and the lower temperature during the firing process, the carbon footprint in the production of cement is reduced.”

Japan: Taiheiyo Cement has installed three BWZ bucket elevators and a Louise TKF drag chain conveyor supplied by the Hong Kong-based subsidiary of Aumund at its new power plant at Ofunato. The cement producer uses both biomass and coal at the plant.

Two elevators and the drag chain conveyor are used to transport palm kernel shells (PKS) and palm empty fruit bunches (EFB), which are used as alternative fuels in the power plant. Each has a capacity of up to 150t/hr. The conveying concept is designed so that the different materials are kept apart and enter the silo buffer tanks separately. The third bucket elevator is used for coal handling. It is a gravity discharge type BWZ-S elevator with a capacity of up to 35t/hr.

Spain: Cementos Portland Valderrivas has announced plans to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of its 1.6Mt/yr integrated Alcalá de Guadaíra cement plant in Andalusia by 40% through the substitution of biomass for coal in its kiln lines. The company said that it regretted the confusion caused by “manipulation of information” around the plans in a local environmental group’s communiqué. It said, “the plant has all the permits and the cement group is looking forward to this new challenge.

UK: Germany-based HeidelbergCement’s subsidiary Hanson Cement will be the subject of a study in the use of biomass and hydrogen fuels coordinated by the Mineral Products Association. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is funding the Euro3.81m study, the results of which it says will be shared across the cement industry. HeidelbergCement CEO Dominik von Achten said, "In addition to our activities in the field of carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS), this project is an important step towards realising our vision of carbon-neutral concrete by 2050.”

Kenya: 58% LafargeHolcim subsidiary Bamburi Cement has set out an ambitious alternative fuel plan. In a statement, it said that it would aim to use 30% biomass-derived fuel in cement kilns at its 1.1Mt/yr integrated Mombasa plant. The figure currently stands at 12%. Municipal waste and tyres were among other fuel sources targeted for substitution. In a first step towards achieving this, Bamburi Cement has signed a supply agreement with the Port of Mombasa for confiscated cargoes.

Since 26 September 2019, Bamburi has received waste fuel oil from Shell petrol stations across Kenya via its subsidiary Geocycle at a rate of 240t/yr. In co-processing the oil, Bamburi is helping dispose of some of the 60,000t of waste petroleum produced in Kenya annually. Afrik21 has reported that, with an expenditure of US$5.8m in 2018, alternative fuel substitution is an attempt by the company to reduce untenable operating costs, notably including electricity costs of US$87/MWh. “Bamburi is looking at more partnerships for the disposal of various types of waste as we work to contribute to environmental conservation as part of our sustainability ambitions,” said Bamburi Cement managing director Seddiq Hassani.

Ethiopia: The Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Chemicals and Construction Inputs Industry Development Institute are working with cement producers to replace imported coal with biomas in a bid to lower carbon CO2 and reduce reliance on foreign currency. The institute has conducted a feasibility study, with the support of the Global Climate Fund and the European Union, studying using a weed, Prophecies Newfora, as potential biomass, according to the Reporter newspaper. Plants run by Dangote Cement and Habesha Cement factories took part in the study. The government is also encouraging cement producers to use locally mined coal until the biomass project becomes fully operational.